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Multimedia art collaborative LOS JAICHACKERS will debut a major performance, Night Shade/Solanaceae, at PAMM's Miami Art Week/Art Basel Miami Beach opening celebration on Thursday, December 5. Leading up to the big event, The Port presents guest blogs by LOS JAICHACKERS with playlists, recipes and articles based on exotic night fruits, a major theme of Night Shade/Solanaceae.

OrangeBy LOS JAICHACKERS

"Could any image verify a Spaniard's identity better than the sight of a man eating an orange?"

​​

Carlo Fuentes is one of the most important and influential Latin America writers of the 20th century, and his 1993 book entitled The Orange Tree is a phenomenal exploration of a nightshade fruit that examines the history of the orange tree and its introduction to a new land. Originally imported by the Moors to Spain and subsequently transported by Cortez to Mexico, the orange tree signifies 'the twin fruits of America and Europe.' This transmigration of elements exists within the collision of old world and nuevo mundo, where cultures are not destroyed but rather go underground, adapt and morph in order to bloom.

​Night Shade Playlist (orange)By LOS JAICHACKERSThe music playlist is divided to mirror the four novellas Fuentes wrote in The Orange Tree and reference sensual pleasures such as touch, peel, bite and swallow. Listen to the playlist by signing up or logging
in to Spotify.

​​Touch

Track 1

“Champagne Coast” by Blood Orange from the 2011 release Coastal.

(Strange such a unique sound of electro-chill R&B can come from Jay-Z’s former fashion consultant—a great song and inspiring video. When Eamon dropped a CD into the rented Mustang convertible from a ​resent LA visit—we just played it over and over again!)

Track 2

“Touch” by Toro y Moi from the 2013 release Anything in Return.

(Another killer chill track perhaps inspired by trajectory of space age bachelor music such as Esquivel, Air and a little Giorgio Moroder’s From Here to Eternity. Eamon and I recently heard this in a once-again rented Mustang convertible while parked in front of the beach in Miami—just perfect blend of cool-chill wave electronica.)

Track 3“Heaven” by The Rolling Stones from the 1981 release Tattoo You.(As the third Jaichacker, Moi Medina, mentioned, “half of the album sucks, while the second half is brilliant.” Part of the reason is that the best songs on the record are leftovers from the previous recording and masterpiece, 1978’s Some Girls. Here Keith Richards refried some of the leftovers to create unique tracks such as “Heaven.” I still can’t believe it's a Stones song—it’s such a hot and sexy song!)

Peel

Track 1“Let’s Dance” by We Have Band Now from the 2013 release WWSTO 2: A Tribute to David Bowie.(A nice oddity and cover from David Bowie’s in 1983, the reconstructed song is a mix between early Talking Heads, Gary Numan and great inventive usage of percussion influenced by the great original producer of “Let’s Dance,” and Los Jaichackers idol, Niles Rodgers.)

Track 2

“Chocolat” by Cornershop from the 1997 release When I Was Born for the 7th Time.

(This is one of the best releases from the 1990s. Famously known for the fact that its members called out and harassed ex-Smiths frontman Morrissey on his use of racial slurs, Cornershop captured a new genre that the band helped to develop with a mix of fresh lo-fi British indie rock, DJ turntables and Indian music. The band’s influence can be heard across the globe, in the Nortec Collective in Tijuana with a mix of Mexican tambora and electronic, to Sevilla in La Mala Rodríguez’s mix of hip hop and gypsy music.)

Track 3
​“Lilac Wine” by Nina Simone by The Album Leaf from the 2005 release Verve Remixed 3.
​(After DJs in the 1990s hijacked and sampled from classic prime material from Blue Note Records and Verve, both Jazz record labels, instead of suing the artists, opened the massive recordings of master tapes to them and created a series of remix compilations that would help shape the new vision of sampling and collaborations between electronic musicians and archive. The mix of Billie Holiday’s recording of “Strange Fruit” cut up by Tricky still gives me goose bumps!)

​Bite

Track 1

“Wazabi” by Soldout from the 2013 release More.

(In the press release for the album it states that they are bringing Cabaret Voltaire, The Knife and Ryuichi Sakamoto together on the dance floor! How do you say “Baila, Baila!” in Belgium? This was the only music that saved me from the transition of living in one of the most liberal cities in the world—San Francisco—and moving to the one most oppressive to Latinos in the US—Arizona, and specifically Phoenix! This album was the perfect soundtrack on our last visit to the Opa Locka Hialeah Flea Market three weeks ago—still driving the silver convertible Mustang! Did I mention the album cover?)

Track 2

“Nene” by La Mala Rodriguez from the 2010 release Dirty Bailarina.

(As one of the most important female rappers and thoughtful lyricist, mixing hip-hop with Gitano music with a social message, La Mala Rodriguez is one of the most respected musicians in Spain and Latin America. In this track she is just asking for some beautiful-powerful-sexy-encounter—politics aside. Just say SI- mami!)

Track 3“Yer Eyes” by Fax (Remixed by AAM)from Circles Remixed EP on the SEM label(A beautiful haunting track from Mexicali-based musician Ruben Alonso Tamayo aka Fax, and remixed by another Mexican sound and video artist Autómata Mexicano. This track really shows off the innovative music coming out of Mexico. Fax is also one of the co-founders of the best electronic label in Latin America, Static Discos—straight out of Tijuana—who would have known? But then again, there is a real magic and energy that comes out of the hybrid cultures of border towns across the globe.)

Swallow

Track 1

“Warm Leatherette” by Grace Jones from the 1980 release of the same title.

​(After three disco albums, Grace Jones embarked on a seminal recording in 1980 based on a series of cover songs with ambitious treatments including songs by Tom Petty, The Pretenders and Roxy Music amongst them. The original song “Warm Leatherette” was written by Daniel Miller who was influenced by J.G. Ballard’s novel, Crash, which was eventually put on the silver screen by famed Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg. I love the opening guitar section!)

Track 2

​(Memories. When we first heard this song, we where cruising around Miami with the top down–there was a somewhat magical and familiar type of sound that had unfiltered disco riffs moving around the eight-speaker sound system and a production value only one man can be responsible for—Mr. Niles Rodgers! An amazing album and single that once you listen to it – the grooves will remain in your brain for a good 72 hours nonstop. Does Pharrell really sing, ‘staying up on Mexican monkey to get lucky?’)

Track 3

“Scandle in The Wind” by The Rapture from the 2012 release Welcome to Mania.

(A great track to listen to underwater—I can imagine Los Jaichackers at The Standard in Miami just feeling so good, after a night or early morning venture from The Corner, floating by poolside—Una Mas?)

​Night Shade Recipe (orange)Chocolate Magic Dust ​By LOS JAICHACKERS

I have been eating this dish, a simple and beautiful desert for hot summers, for as long as I can remember. Growing up in Tijuana, all of my cousins would spend two weeks at my abuela’s house (to the delight of parents) every summer until we were teenagers. This recipe has been altered to include making your own chocolate magic dust!

Ingredients (Makes six servings)

6 Valencia Oranges or Navel

5 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

3 ounces of hazelnuts, finely chopped

3 ounces of unsalted almonds, finely chopped

4 tablespoons of good butter such as Kerry Gold

2 large eggs (separated)

Grey sea salt

Cayenne pepper powder

Instructions

Chill the oranges in the refrigerator for at least two hours or best, overnight.

In the top of a double boiler, melt chocolate and butter together, and stir until smooth. Transfer to a large metal bowl and let cool at room temperature.

Whisk the egg yolks into the chocolate until mixed well. In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites and powered sugar until they get like stiff peaks. Then, add the whites into the chocolate mixture.

Add the chopped hazelnuts and almonds and mix until blended well. Toss 2 pinches of salt and 1 pinch of cayenne pepper (or to taste), and blend to a smooth finish.

Place on a plate with wax paper underneath, and smooth out with spatula or hand into a large circular shape about one-inch-think.

Place in refrigerator until it is solid (about two hours).

Cut chilled oranges into 1/4 diamond wedges, and place in a large two-inch-deep circular plate with crushed ice covering the bottom of plate or container.

With the finest grade of a cheese grater, shave the chocolate and dust onto the oranges.